Transaction mediation device and transaction mediation method

ABSTRACT

A transaction mediation device stores transaction request information indicating estimates of profit and loss obtained by the first participant through the transaction; transaction provision information indicating estimates of profit and loss incurred based on a thing that the second participant obtains through the transaction; and behavior characteristic information indicating evaluation of behavior characteristics that affect the profit and loss of a transaction counterparty, and, for each of the one or more second participants, calculates, based on the transaction request information and the behavior characteristic information, a first expected profit that the first participant obtains through the transaction with the second participant and a second expected profit that the second participant obtains through the transaction with the first participant; and calculates and outputs a gross profit incurred from the transaction based on the first expected profit and the second expected profit.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority from Japanese patent applicationJP 2020-158211 filed on Sep. 23, 2020, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a transaction mediation device and atransaction mediation method.

As a background technology of this technical field, Japanese PatentApplication Publication No. 2002-207928 (Patent Document 1) is known.This publication discloses “an electronic commerce server device that isconnected to a user terminal via an information network and conductselectronic commerce, in which the device requests a buyer-side user anda seller-side user to evaluate the reliability of transactioncounterparties at the end of transaction, receives seller evaluationinformation and buyer evaluation information related to the transactioncounterparties transmitted from the user terminals, creates for eachuser, seller evaluation data and buyer evaluation data of the buyer-sideuser and the seller-side user on the basis of the seller evaluationinformation and the buyer evaluation information, accumulates theevaluation data in a database, and provides evaluation data related toother users who will be transaction counterparties of a user whoconducts electronic commerce” (see Abstract).

SUMMARY

Since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 evaluates thereliability of a transaction counterparty, the transactor can considerwhether to deal with the other party on the basis of the reliability.However, since the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 does notevaluate a transaction counterparty on the basis of information otherthan reliability, such as profit or loss obtained from a transaction,for example, the transactor may not be able to select an appropriatetransaction counterparty. Therefore, in one aspect of the presentinvention, a transaction counterparty is selected so that profits andlosses are optimized.

The one aspect of the present invention adopts the followingconstruction in order to solve the above problem. A transactionmediation device that mediates between a first participant requesting atransaction and one or more second participants capable of responding tothe request of the transaction, comprising: a processor; and a memory,wherein the memory is configured to store: transaction requestinformation indicating estimates of profit and loss incurred on thebasis of a thing that the first participant obtains through thetransaction; for each of the one or more second participants,transaction provision information indicating estimates of profit andloss incurred on the basis of a thing that the second participantobtains through the transaction; and for each of the first participantand the one or more second participants, behavior characteristicinformation indicating evaluation of behavior characteristics thataffect the profit and loss of a transaction counterparty, and theprocessor is configured to: for each of the one or more secondparticipants, calculate a first expected profit that the firstparticipant obtains through the transaction with the second participanton the basis of the transaction request information and the behaviorcharacteristic information; calculate a second expected profit that thesecond participant obtains through the transaction with the firstparticipant on the basis of the transaction provision information andthe behavior characteristic information; and calculate and output agross profit incurred from the transaction on the basis of the firstexpected profit and the second expected profit.

The one aspect of the present invention can select the transactioncounterparty so that profits and losses are optimized.

The details of one or more implementations of the subject matterdescribed in the specification are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter will become apparent from thedescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention can be appreciated by the description whichfollows in conjunction with the following figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aservice mediation system;

FIG. 2 is an example of participant data;

FIG. 3 is an example of service data;

FIG. 4 is an example of service provision method data;

FIG. 5 is an example of participant behavior characteristic item data;

FIG. 6 is an example of participant behavior characteristic data;

FIG. 7 is an example of request record data;

FIG. 8 is an example of provision record data;

FIG. 9 is an example of evaluation record data;

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of servicemediation processing;

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of transactionrecord evaluation processing from a service requester to a serviceprovider;

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of transactionrecord evaluation processing from the service provider to the servicerequester;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of optimal transactioncondition calculation processing;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of transaction recordupdate processing;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of transaction recordevaluation update processing;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of participant behaviorcharacteristic update processing in step;

FIG. 17 is an example of a service request input screen displayed on aparticipant terminal of the service requester;

FIG. 18 is an example of a service provision condition input screendisplayed on the participant terminal of a service provider candidate;

FIG. 19 is an example of a transactability determination input screendisplayed on the participant terminal of the service provider candidate;

FIG. 20 is an example of a transaction counterparty selection screendisplayed on the participant terminal of the service requester; and

FIG. 21 is an example of the transaction evaluation information inputscreen displayed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described indetail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, inprinciple, the same components are designated by the same referencenumerals, and the repeated description is omitted. It should be notedthat the present embodiment is merely an example for realizing thepresent invention and does not limit the technical scope of the presentinvention.

Example 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of aservice mediation system. The service mediation system includes aservice mediation device 100 and a plurality of participant terminals160, which are connected to each other by a network such as theInternet. The plurality of participant terminals 160 belong to, forexample, a participant network 150. The participant terminal 160 is aterminal used by a service requester or a service provider.

When the participant terminal 160 receives the input of a servicerequest from a service requester, the participant terminal 160 transmitsthe service request to the service mediation device 100, and the servicemediation device 100 transmits the service provision request to theparticipant terminal 160 of the service provider. The service mediationdevice 100 performs mediation so that a transaction is establishedbetween the service requester and the service provider.

In the present embodiment, both the service requester and the serviceprovider may be able to receive a service from the other party or may beable to provide a service to the other party. In this case, the servicerequester is a person who wishes to start a transaction, and the serviceprovider is a person who has the ability to accept the transactionaccording to the request from the service requester. Receiving servicesand providing services are both examples of transactions. In addition,each service provision method described later is an example of atransaction means.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which data isexchanged between a service requester and a service provider of aservice is described, but a service may not involve exchanging data.Further, in the present embodiment, an example in which the servicemediation system mediates the service is described, but variousmediations such as buying and selling and exchanging of articles may beperformed by the processing similar to the processing described later.

The service mediation device 100 is configured as, for example, acomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 110, an auxiliarystorage device 120, a communication IF (interface) 130, and a memory140.

The CPU 110 includes a processor and executes a program stored in thememory 140. The memory 140 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) which is anon-volatile storage element and a RAM (Random Access Memory) which is avolatile storage element. The ROM stores an invariant program (forexample, BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)) and the like. The RAM is ahigh-speed and volatile storage element such as a DRAM (Dynamic RandomAccess Memory), and temporarily stores a program executed by the CPU 110and data used when the program is executed.

The auxiliary storage device 120 is a large-capacity, non-volatilestorage device such as a magnetic storage device (HDD (Hard Disk Drive))or a flash memory (SSD (Solid State Drive)), and stores a programexecuted by the CPU 110 and the data used when the program is executed.That is, the program is read from the auxiliary storage device 120,loaded into the memory 140, and executed by the CPU 110.

The service mediation device 100 may include an input interface that isconnected to an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse to receiveinput from an operator and an output interface that is connected to adisplay device such as a display or a printer to output the programexecution result in a format that the operator can see.

The communication IF 130 is a network interface device that controlscommunication with other devices according to a predetermined protocol.Further, the communication IF 130 may include a serial interface such asUSB.

The program executed by the CPU 110 may be stored in advance in anon-volatile auxiliary storage device 120 which is a computer-readablenon-transitory storage medium, or may be provided from a removablemedium (CD-ROM, flash memory, or the like) which is a non-transitorystorage medium or a non-transitory storage device of another device tothe service mediation device 100 via a network and be stored in theauxiliary storage device 120. Therefore, the service mediator 100 mayhave an interface for reading data from removable media.

The service mediation device 100 is a computer system configured on onecomputer physically or on a plurality of computers configured logicallyor physically, and may operate in separate threads on the same computerand may operate on a virtual computer built on a plurality of physicalcomputer resources. The same applies to the participant terminal 160.

The CPU 110 includes, for example, an optimal transaction conditioncalculation unit 111, a transaction record update unit 112, anevaluation record update unit 113, a participant behaviorcharacteristics update unit 114, and a screen display unit 115. Theoptimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 calculates theoptimized transaction condition between the service requester and theservice provider (candidate). The evaluation record update unit 113updates the evaluation record for each behavior characteristic item ofthe service requester and the service provider who conducted thetransaction.

The participant behavior characteristics update unit 114 calculates thebehavior characteristic evaluation value for each behaviorcharacteristic classification of the participant on the basis of theevaluation record updated by the evaluation record update unit 113. Thescreen display unit 115 generates information for forming an imagedisplayed on the display device of the service mediation device 100 andthe display device of the participant terminal 160.

For example, the CPU 110 functions as the optimal transaction conditioncalculation unit 111 by operating according to an optimal transactioncondition calculation program loaded in the memory 140, and functions asthe transaction record update unit 112 by operating according to atransaction record update program loaded in the memory 140. Therelationship between the program and the functional unit is the same forthe other functional units included in the CPU 110.

In addition, a part or all of the functions of the functional unitsincluded in the CPU 110 may be realized by hardware such as ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit) and FPGA (Field-ProgrammableGate Array).

The auxiliary storage device 120 includes, for example, participant data121, service data 122, service provision method data 123, participantbehavior characteristic item data 124, participant behaviorcharacteristic data 125, request record data 126, provision record data127, and evaluation record data 128. The participant data 121 holdsinformation on a participant having the participant terminal 160. Theservice data 122 holds information on services that any participant canprovide.

The service provision method data 123 holds information on a serviceprovision method and information on the cost, profit, and loss relatedto the provision of the service. The participant behavior characteristicitem data 124 holds information that defines the behavior characteristicitem. The participant behavior characteristic data 125 holds informationon the evaluation of the behavior characteristic classification of eachparticipant.

The request record data 126 holds information indicating the record ofthe service requester transmitting the service request. The provisionrecord data 127 holds information indicating the record of the serviceprovider providing the service. The evaluation record data 128 holds theevaluation value for each behavior characteristic in a transaction, ofthe participants (combination of a service requester who received theservice and a service provider who provided the service) who establishedthe transaction in the past.

Part or all of pieces of the information stored in the auxiliary storagedevice 120 may be stored in the memory 140, or may be stored in anexternal database or the like connected to the service mediation device100.

In the present embodiment, the information used by the service mediationsystem may be represented in any data structure regardless of the datastructure. In the present embodiment, the information is represented ina table format, but for example, a data structure appropriately selectedfrom a list, a database, or a queue can store the information.

Each of the participant terminals 160 includes, for example, a computerhaving a CPU 161, an auxiliary storage device 162, a communication IF163, and a memory 164. The description of the CPU 161, the auxiliarystorage device 162, the communication IF 163, and the memory 164 ashardware is the same as the description of the CPU 110, the auxiliarystorage device 120, the communication IF 130, and the memory 140, and istherefore omitted.

Further, each of the participant terminals 160 may include an inputinterface to which an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse isconnected, an output interface to which a display device such as adisplay or a printer is connected, and an interface that reads data froma removable medium, similarly to the service mediation device 100.

FIG. 2 is an example of the participant data 121. The participant data121 includes, for example, a participant ID field 1211, a participantname field 1212, a capital field 1213, a number-of-employee field 1214,a location field 1215, and a last-term profit field 1216. Theparticipant ID field 1211 holds a participant ID that identifies a user(participant) who uses the participant terminal 160. The participantname field 1212 holds information indicating the name of theparticipant.

The capital field 1213 holds information indicating the capital of theparticipants. The number-of-employees field 1214 holds informationindicating the number of employees of the participant. The locationfield 1215 holds information indicating the location of the participant.The last-term profit field 1216 holds information indicating thelast-term profit of the participant. In addition, the participant data121 may include a field for storing information indicating theattributes and status of the participants in place of or in addition tothe capital field 1213, the number-of-employees field 1214, the locationfield 1215, and the last-term profit field 1216.

FIG. 3 is an example of the service data 122. The service data 122includes, for example, a service ID field 1221, a service name field1222, a service provision method ID field 1223, a request data itemfield 1224, and a provision data item field 1225. The service ID field1221 holds a service ID that identifies the service. The service namefield 1222 holds information indicating the name of the service.

The service provision method ID field 1223 holds a service provisionmethod ID that identifies the service provision method. A service inwhich a plurality of IDs is stored in the service provision method IDfield 1223 can be provided by a provision method indicated by each ofthe plurality of IDs. The request data item field 1224 holds informationindicating data to be transmitted by the service requester to theservice provider in the service. The provision data item field 1225holds information indicating data to be transmitted by the serviceprovider to the service requester in the service.

FIG. 4 is an example of the service provision method data 123. Theservice provision method data 123 includes, for example, a serviceprovision method ID field 1231, a service provision method name field1232, a requester cost field 1233, a provider cost field 1234, arequester profit correction coefficient field 1235, a requester losscorrection coefficient field 1236, a provider profit correctioncoefficient field 1237, and a provider loss correction coefficient field1238.

The service provision method ID field 1231 holds the service provisionmethod ID. The service provision method name field 1232 holdsinformation indicating the name of the service provision method. Therequester cost field 1233 holds information indicating the cost incurredwhen the service requester requests the service (when conducting atransaction). The provider cost field 1234 holds information indicatingthe cost incurred when the service provider provides the service (whenconducting a transaction).

The requester profit correction coefficient field 1235 holds a requesterprofit correction coefficient which is a coefficient for correcting theprofit that the service requester obtains due to the service. Therequester loss correction coefficient field 1236 holds a requester losscorrection coefficient which is a coefficient for correcting the lossincurred by the service requester due to the service. The providerprofit correction coefficient field 1237 holds a provider profitcorrection coefficient which is a coefficient for correcting the profitobtained by the service provider due to the service provider. Theprovider loss correction coefficient field 1238 holds a provider losscorrection coefficient which is a coefficient for correcting the lossincurred by the service provider due to the service.

Hereinafter, the requester cost is Cr(i), the provider cost is Cp(i),the requester profit correction coefficient is br(i), the requester losscorrection coefficient is lr(i), the provider profit correctioncoefficient is bp(i), and the provider loss coefficient is lp(i) (iindicates that it is the i-th service). It is desirable that Cr(i),Cp(i), br(i), lr(i), bp(i), and lp(i) are determined in advance beforeservice mediation processing described below is executed. In the exampleof FIG. 4, a data provision method is illustrated as a service provisionmethod, and br(i), lr(i), bp(i), and lp(i) are set to high values forthe service provision method in which the information amount of data isless damaged.

FIG. 5 is an example of the participant behavior characteristic itemdata 124. The participant behavior characteristic item data 124includes, for example, a behavior characteristic item ID field 1241, abehavior characteristic item name field 1242, a behavior characteristicclassification 1243, and a behavior characteristic weight field 1244.The behavior characteristic item ID field 1241 holds a behaviorcharacteristic item ID that identifies the behavior characteristic. Thebehavior characteristic item name field 1242 holds informationindicating the name of the behavior characteristic.

The behavior characteristic classification field 1243 holds informationindicating the classification of the behavior characteristic. In theexample of FIG. 5, the behavior characteristic item corresponding to thebehavior characteristic classification of “information provision” is abehavior characteristic item related to provision of information to theother party. The behavior characteristic item corresponding to thebehavior characteristic classification of “information use” is abehavior characteristic item related to the use of information obtainedfrom the other party.

In the present embodiment, since the service in which information isprovided and used between the service requester and the service provideris described, the behavior characteristic classification is composed of“information use” and “information provision”. However, when anarbitrary service is provided between the service requester and theservice provider, the behavior characteristic classification is composedof behavior characteristics related to “profit” and behaviorcharacteristics related to “loss” for the other party. The “informationprovision” is an example of behavior characteristics related to“profit”, and the “information use” is an example of behaviorcharacteristics related to “loss”. In other words, when the presentembodiment is applied to arbitrary service mediation, “informationprovision” to the other party should be read as “profit” for the otherparty, and “information use” obtained from the other party should beread as “loss” for the other party.

The behavior characteristic weight field 1244 holds a behaviorcharacteristic weight which is a weight applied to each behaviorcharacteristic item when the evaluation value of the participant foreach behavior characteristic item is calculated. The behaviorcharacteristic weights are set in advance so that the sum of behaviorcharacteristic weights for respective behavior characteristicclassifications is 1.0.

FIG. 6 is an example of the participant behavior characteristic data125. The participant behavior characteristic data 125 includes, forexample, a participant behavior characteristic ID field 1251, aparticipant ID field 1252, a behavior characteristic classificationfield 1253, and a behavior characteristic evaluation value field 1254.The participant behavior characteristic ID field 1251 holds aparticipant behavior characteristic ID that identifies the behaviorcharacteristics of the participant. The participant behaviorcharacteristic ID has a different value if at least one of theparticipant and the behavior characteristic is different.

The participant ID field 1253 holds the participant ID. The behaviorcharacteristic classification field 1254 holds information indicatingthe behavior characteristic classification (“profit” or “loss” in theexample of FIG. 6). The behavior characteristic evaluation value field1254 holds a behavior characteristic evaluation value which is anevaluation value for each participant behavior characteristic.

FIG. 7 is an example of the request record data 126. The request recorddata 126 includes, for example, a request record ID field 1261, aservice requester ID field 1262, and a service ID field 1263. Therequest record ID field 1261 holds a request record ID that identifies aservice request. The service requester ID field 1262 holds a servicerequester ID which is a participant ID of the participant whotransmitted the service request. The service ID field 1263 holds aservice ID that identifies the service requested in the service request.

FIG. 8 is an example of the provision record data 127. The provisionrecord data 127 includes, for example, a provision record ID field 1271,a request record ID field 1272, and a service provider ID field 1273.The provision record ID field 1271 holds a provision record ID thatidentifies the service provision record. The request record ID field1272 holds the service request ID of the service request correspondingto the provided service. The service provider ID field 1273 holds theservice provider ID which is the participant ID of the participant whoprovided the service in the provision record.

FIG. 9 is an example of the evaluation record data 128. The evaluationrecord data 128 includes, for example, an evaluation record ID field1281, a provision record ID field 1282, a participant role field 1283, aparticipant behavior characteristic item ID field 1284, and anevaluation value field 1285. The evaluation record ID field 1281 holdsan evaluation record ID that identifies the evaluation record. Theevaluation record is generated for each participant behaviorcharacteristic item ID of each of the service requester and the serviceprovider corresponding to the provided service.

The provision record ID field 1282 holds the provision record ID. Theparticipant role field 1283 holds information indicating whether theparticipant corresponding to the evaluation target participant behaviorcharacteristic item is a service requester or a service provider. Theparticipant behavior characteristic item ID field 1284 holds theparticipant behavior characteristic item ID. The evaluation value field1285 holds the evaluation value for the participant behaviorcharacteristic item of the participant in the provision record.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of servicemediation processing. Here, the participant terminal 160 of the servicerequester transmits a service request to the service mediation device100 (1001). For example, the service ID of the requested service isdetermined on the basis of the input to the participant terminal 160 ofthe service requester.

The service requester inputs the estimate (hereinafter, also referred toas Br) of (necessary) profit obtained by the service requester receivingthe service (that is, the thing the service requester obtains from theservice provider through the transaction (excluding the money deliveredat the time of transaction, the same applies hereinafter)) and theestimate (hereinafter, also referred to as Lr) of (acceptable) lossincurred by the service requester receiving the service (that is, theloss incurred due to the thing the service requester obtains from theservice provider through the transaction) to the participant terminal160. The service request includes the service ID, Br, Lr, and theparticipant ID (service requester ID) of the participant terminal 160.The Br and Lr may not be determined on the basis of the input by theservice requester, and may be preset for each service ID in theparticipant terminal 160, for example.

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 of the servicemediation device 100 receives the service request (1002), and executesthe processing of steps 1004, 1008, 1009, 1010, and 1014 which isdescribed below with respect to each participant terminal 160 (theparticipant terminal 160 possessed by each of one or more serviceprovider candidates) (1003).

The service mediation device 100 may hold information indicating theservice IDs of the services that can be provided by the participantshaving the participant terminals 160 (information indicating thecorrespondence between the service provider ID and the service ID). Inthis case, the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 mayexecute the processing of step 1004, step 1008, step 1009, step 1010,and step 1014, which are described below, with respect to only each ofthe participant terminals 160 (the participant terminals 160 possessedby one or more service provider candidates) possessed by theparticipants who can provide the service of the service ID indicated bythe service request.

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 transmits aservice provision request to the participant terminal 160 of the serviceprovider candidate (1004). The service provision request includes, forexample, a service requester ID included in the service request and aservice ID (which may be a corresponding service name) included in theservice request.

The participant terminal 160 of the service provider candidate receivesthe service provision request (1005), displays a screen illustrating theservice provision request on the display device connected thereto,receives the input of the service provision condition from the serviceprovider candidate (1006), and transmits the input service provisioncondition are transmitted to the service mediation device 100 (1007).

The service provision condition includes, for example, a participant ID(service provider ID) of the participant terminal 160, a service ID(which may be a corresponding service name), and a service providercandidate providing the service, the estimate (hereinafter, alsoreferred to as Bp) of (necessary) profit obtained by the serviceprovider candidate providing the service (that is, the profit obtainedfrom the thing the service provider obtains from the service requesterthrough the transaction), and the estimate (hereinafter, also referredto as Lp) of (acceptable) loss incurred by the service providercandidate providing the service (that is, the loss incurred by the thingthe service provider obtains from the service requester through thetransaction). The Bp and Lp may not be determined on the basis of theinput by the service provider candidate, and may be preset for eachservice ID in the participant terminal 160, for example.

In addition, the participant terminal 160 of the service providercandidate may accept the input of information indicating that theprovision of the service is refused instead of the service provisioncondition in step 1006. In this case, the participant terminal 160transmits the information to the service mediation device 100 wherebythe participant is excluded from the service provider candidate and isexcluded from the target of the processing after step 1009 and thesubsequent steps.

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 receives theservice provision condition (1008). The optimal transaction conditioncalculation unit 111 calculates the optimal transaction conditionbetween the service requester and the service provider candidate on thebasis of the service request and the service provision condition (1009).Details of the processing in step 1009 is described below with referenceto FIG. 13.

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 transmits theoptimal transaction condition calculated in step 1009 to the participantterminal 160 of the service provider candidate (1010). The participantterminal 160 of the service provider candidate receives the optimaltransaction condition (1011), displays a screen illustrating the optimaltransaction condition on a display device connected thereto, receivesthe input of whether the service can be provided (transacted) under theoptimal transaction condition from the service provider candidate(1012), and transmits the result of the availability to the servicemediation device 100 (1013). The optimal transaction conditioncalculation unit 111 receives the result of the availability (1014).Hereinafter, the service provider candidate who inputs that the servicecan be provided (transacted) is referred to as a transactable candidate.

The transaction record update unit 112 sorts the optimal transactionconditions between the service requester and each of the transactablecandidates in the order of the magnitude of the expected profit (1015),and transmits information indicating the transactable candidate and thesorted optimal transaction conditions to the participant terminal 160 ofthe service requester (1016). The magnitude of the expected profit instep 1015 may be the magnitude of the expected profit for the servicerequester, the magnitude of the expected profit for the transactablecandidate, or the sum of the expected profit for the transactor and theexpected profit for the transactable candidate.

The participant terminal 160 of the service requester receives theinformation indicating the transactable candidate and the sorted optimaltransaction conditions (1017). The participant terminal 160 of theservice requester displays a screen illustrating the transactablecandidate and the optimal transaction condition on the display deviceconnected to the service requester, selects the transaction counterparty(that is, the transactable candidate from which the service is to bereceived) (that is, the transactable candidate with which transactionwill be done) according to the input from the service requester (1018),and transmits the selection result to the service mediation device 100(1019).

In step 1018, the participant terminal 160 may select only onetransaction counterparty, or may select a plurality of transactions.Further, in step 1018, the participant terminal 160 of the servicerequester may request the service mediation device 100 to select atransactable candidate so as to raise the expected profit of the servicerequester. In this way, the service mediation device 100 may be able tointeractively change the transaction condition between the servicerequester and the service provider.

The transaction record update unit 112 receives the selection result(1020). The transaction record update unit 112 updates the transactionrecord (1021). Details of step 1021 are described below with referenceto FIG. 14. The transaction record update unit 112 transmits, forrespective transactable candidates (1022), the received selection result(whether the transactable candidate is selected as a transactioncounterparty) to the participant terminal 160 of the transactablecandidate (1023), and the participant terminal 160 receives theselection result (1024) and ends the service mediation processing.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of transactionrecord evaluation processing from the service requester to the serviceprovider. The transaction record evaluation processing is performed at apredetermined timing, for example, after the transaction between theservice requester and the service provider starts (for example, afterthe transaction is matched or after provision of the service is started)(the same applies to the transaction record evaluation processing ofFIG. 12 described later). The participant terminal 160 of the servicerequester generates transaction evaluation information on the basis ofthe input from the service requester, and transmits the generatedtransaction evaluation information to the service mediation device 100(1101).

The transaction evaluation information includes, for example, anevaluator ID (service requester ID in the example of FIG. 11), atransaction counterparty ID (service provider ID in the example of FIG.11), a service ID (or service name), and the evaluation value for eachbehavior characteristic item of the transaction counterparty.

The evaluation record updating unit 113 of the service mediation device100 receives the transaction evaluation information (1102). Theevaluation record update unit 113 executes transaction record evaluationupdate processing on the basis of the received transaction evaluationinformation (1103). Details of step 1103 are described below withreference to FIG. 15. The evaluation record update unit 113 executesparticipant behavior characteristic update processing on the basis ofthe received transaction evaluation information (1104). Details of step1104 are described below with reference to FIG. 16.

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the transactionrecord evaluation processing from the service provider to the servicerequester. The participant terminal 160 of the service providergenerates transaction evaluation information on the basis of the inputfrom the service provider, and transmits the generated transactionevaluation information to the service mediation device 100 (1201).

The transaction evaluation information includes, for example, anevaluator ID (service provider ID in the example of FIG. 12), atransaction counterparty ID (service requester ID in the example of FIG.12), a service ID (or service name), and the evaluation value of eachbehavior characteristic item of the transaction counterparty. After theprocessing of step 1201, the processing of steps 1102 to 1104 similar tothat in FIG. 11 are executed.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of optimal transactioncondition calculation processing in step 1009. The optimal transactioncondition calculation unit 111 acquires, from the participant behaviorcharacteristic data 125, the behavior characteristic evaluation value ofthe behavior characteristic classification (profit and loss)corresponding to the participant ID of the service requester and each ofthe service provider candidates selected in step 1004 (1301).

The behavior characteristic evaluation value corresponding to theinformation use of the service requester indicates the probability thatthe service requester properly uses the information provided from theservice provider candidate, and is also referred to as Er. The behaviorcharacteristic evaluation value corresponding to the informationprovision of the service requester indicates the probability that theservice requester provides the information expected by the serviceprovider candidate to the service provider candidate, and is alsoreferred to as Ir.

The behavior characteristic evaluation value corresponding to theinformation provision of the service provider candidate indicates theprobability that the service provider candidate properly uses theinformation provided by the service requester, and is also referred toas Ep. The behavior characteristic evaluation value corresponding to theinformation use of the service provider candidate indicates theprobability that the service provider candidate provides the informationexpected by the service requester to the service requester, and is alsoreferred to as Ip.

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 loads the serviceprovision method data 123 and acquires a list of service provisionmethods as a list of transaction means (1302). That is, the optimaltransaction condition calculation unit 111 acquires the requester cost,the provider cost, br(i), lr(i), bp(i), and 1p(i) for each transactionmeans i (each service provision method i).

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 executes theprocessing of steps 1304 to 1306 described later for each transactionmeans i (1303). The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111calculates Br*br(i)*Ip as the expected profit obtained by the servicerequester, calculates Lr*lr(i)*(1−Ep) as the expected loss incurred bythe service requester, and calculates (acquires) Cr(i) as thetransaction cost (1304).

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 calculatesBp*bp(i)*Ir as the expected profit obtained by the service providercandidate, calculates Lp*lp(i)*(1−Er) as the expected loss, andcalculates (acquires) Cp(i) as the transaction cost (1305).

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 calculatesGr=Br*br(i)*Ip+Lr*lr(i)*(1−Ep)−Cr(i) as the expected profit that theservice requester obtains from the transaction (service), calculatesGp=Bp*bp(i)*Ir−Lp*lp(i)*(1−Er)−Cp(i) as the expected profit that theservice provider obtains from the transaction (service), and calculatesGr+Gp as the expected gross profit incurred from the transaction means(service) (1306).

The optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 selects thetransaction means (service) i that maximizes the expected gross profitGr+Gp generated from the transaction means (service) (1307). The optimaltransaction condition calculation unit 111 calculates M satisfyingGr=Br*br(i)*Ip−Lr*lr(i)*(1−Ep)−Cr(i)−M=Bp*bp(i)*Ir−Lp*lp(i)*(1−Er)−Cp(i)+M=Gp(that is, the amount M to be delivered between the service requester andthe service provider so that the profit obtained by the servicerequester is equal to the profit obtained by the service providercandidate) (1308), and ends the optimal transaction conditioncalculation processing. If M is a negative number, the amount isdelivered from the service provider to the service requester.

For example, when a service is provided in which a service requesterprovides information to a service provider and the service providerdelivers money to the service requester, the first item of Gr and thesecond term of Gp are 0.

Further, for example, when a service is provided in which a servicerequester delivers money to a service provider and the service providerprovides information to the service requester, the second term of Gr andthe second term of Gp are 0.

When the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 selects thetransaction means that maximizes Gr+Gp as described above, thetransaction condition by such transaction means that a large profit isobtained for both the service requester and the service providercandidate is calculated. Therefore, the transaction is likely to beestablished (service mediation is likely to succeed).

Further, when the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111determines M as described above, the expected profit obtained by theservice requester is equal to the expected profit obtained by theservice provider candidate. Therefore, fair transactions can be realizedbetween the service requester and the service provider candidate.

In step 1307, the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 mayselect and output only the transaction means having Gr>0 and Gp>0. As aresult, the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 cancalculate the transaction condition such that the profit amount ispositive for both the service requester and the service providercandidate, and the transaction is likely to be established (servicemediation is likely to succeed). Further, the optimal transactioncondition calculation unit 111 may select and output the transactionmeans that maximizes Gr+Gp (that is, maximizes the gross profit incurredby the transaction) among the transaction means having Gr>0 and Gp>0.

In addition, the optimal transaction condition calculation unit 111 maycalculate a transaction condition that is advantageous to either theservice requester or the service provider candidate. Specifically, instep 1307, for example, the optimal transaction condition calculationunit 111 may select such transaction means that maximizes wGr+(1−w)Gpwith respect to the weight w(0≤w≤1) determined by the user of theservice mediation device 100, for example.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of transaction recordupdate processing in step 1021. The transaction record update unit 112determines whether one or more transactions (service mediations) havebeen established by referring to the selection result received in step1020 (1401). When it is determined that there is no establishedtransaction (1401: No), the transaction record update unit 112 ends thetransaction record update processing.

When it is determined that one or more transactions have beenestablished (1401: Yes), the transaction record update unit 112 adds arecord to the request record data 126 (1402). Specifically, thetransaction record update unit 112 issues a request record ID for eachestablished transaction (service mediation), and stores a record inwhich the service requester ID and the service ID corresponding to thetransaction are associated with the issued request record ID in therequest record data 126.

The transaction record update unit 112 adds the record of the provisionrecord data 127 (1404) to each of the established transactions (servicemediations) (1403), and ends the transaction record update processing.In step 1404, specifically, the transaction record update unit 112issues a provision record ID for each of the established transactions,and adds a record in which the request record ID issued in step 1402 andthe service provider ID are associated with the issued provision recordID to the provision record data 127.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the transaction recordevaluation update processing in step 1103. The evaluation record updateunit 113 acquires the provision record ID of the transaction indicatedby the transaction evaluation information by referring to the provisionrecord data 127 (1501). The evaluation record update unit 113 updatesthe evaluation record data 128 (1503) for each behavior characteristicitem (1502), and ends the transaction record evaluation updateprocessing.

In step 1503, specifically, the evaluation record update unit 113 issuesthe evaluation record ID for each combination of the provision recordID, the participant role (whether the evaluation target is the servicerequester or the service provider), and the participant behaviorcharacteristic item ID, and adds a record in which the evaluation recordID, the provision record ID, the participant role, the participantbehavior characteristic item ID, and the transaction evaluation valuecorresponding to the combination indicated by the transaction evaluationinformation are associated to the evaluation record data 128.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the participantbehavior characteristic update processing in step 1104. The participantbehavior characteristics update unit 114 acquires the evaluation recorddata 128 (1601). The participant behavior characteristics update unit114 associates the provision record ID of the evaluation record data 128with the provision record ID of the provision record data 127, andassociates the request record ID of the provision record data 127 withthe request record ID of the request record data 126 to thereby identifythe participant of each record of the evaluation record data (theparticipant indicated by the service requester ID in the request recorddata 126 when the participant role is the service requester and theparticipant indicated by the service provider ID in the provision recorddata 127 when the participant role is the service provider) (1602).

The participant behavior characteristics update unit 114 executes theprocessing of steps 1604 to 1606 described later for each of theparticipants identified in step 1602 (1603), and ends the participantbehavior characteristic update processing. The participant behaviorcharacteristics update unit 114 calculates the average of the evaluationvalues for each behavior characteristic classification of theparticipant (1604).

The participant behavior characteristics update unit 114 identifies thebehavior characteristic classification to which each behaviorcharacteristic item ID belongs and the behavior characteristic weightcorresponding to each behavior characteristic item ID by referring tothe participant behavior characteristic item data 124, and calculates,for each behavior characteristic classification, the sum of the valuesobtained by multiplying the behavior characteristic weight by each ofthe averages calculated in step 1604, of the behavior characteristicitem ID belonging to the behavior characteristic classification as thebehavior characteristic evaluation value of the behavior characteristicclassification of the participant (1605). The participant behaviorcharacteristics update unit 114 stores the calculated behaviorcharacteristic evaluation value in the participant behaviorcharacteristic data (1606).

The participant behavior characteristics update unit 114 can determineIp, Lp, Ir, and Lr on the basis of the evaluation from the other partyin the past transaction (received or provided service) by calculatingthe behavior characteristic evaluation value in each behaviorcharacteristic classification of each participant as described above. Inthis way, the expected profit and the expected loss used for calculatingthe optimum transaction conditions can be calculated more accurately.

FIG. 17 is an example of the service request input screen displayed onthe participant terminal 160 of the service requester in step 1001. Aservice request input screen 1700 includes, for example, a service nameselection area 1701, a service requester profit estimate input area1702, a service requester loss estimate input area 1703, a remarks inputarea 1704, and a service request transmit button 1705.

The service name selection area 1701 is an area for displaying andselecting a service name in a dropdown manner. The service requesterprofit estimate input area 1702 is an area for inputting an estimatedprofit (Br) obtained from the information acquired by the servicerequester. The service requester loss estimate input area 1703 is anarea for inputting an estimated loss (Lr) when the information providedby the service requester is misused.

The remarks Input area 1704 is an area for inputting remarks. When theservice request transmit button 1705 is selected with information inputin at least the service name selection area 1701, the service requesterprofit estimate input area 1702, and the service requester loss estimateinput area 1703, the service request is transmitted to the servicemediation device 100.

FIG. 18 is an example of a service provision condition input screendisplayed on the participant terminal 160 of the service providercandidate in step 1006. The service provision condition input screen1800 includes, for example, a service requester ID display area 1801, aservice name display area 1802, a remarks display area 1803, a serviceprovider profit estimate input area 1804, a service provider lossestimate input area 1805, a remarks input area 1806, and a serviceprovision condition transmit button 1807.

In the service requester ID display area 1801, the participant ID(service requester ID) of the participant who transmitted the servicerequest is displayed. In the service name display area 1802, the servicename selected in the service name selection area 1701 is displayed. Inthe remarks display area 1803, the remarks input in the remarks inputarea 1704 are displayed.

The service provider profit estimate input area 1804 is an area forinputting the estimated profit (Bp) obtained from the informationacquired by the service provider. The service provider loss estimateinput area 1805 is an area for inputting the estimated loss (Lp) whenthe information provided by the service provider is misused. When theservice provision condition transmit button 1807 is selected withinformation input in at least the service provider profit estimate inputarea 1804 and the service provider loss estimate input area 1805, theservice provision condition is transmitted to the service mediationdevice 100.

FIG. 19 is an example of a transactability determination input screendisplayed on the participant terminal 160 of the service providercandidate in step 1012. The transactability determination input screen1900 includes, for example, a service requester ID display area 1901, aservice name display area 1902, a remarks display area 1903, an expectedgross profit display area 1904, a payment amount display area 1905, atransaction confirmation button 1906, and a transaction decline button1907.

In the service requester ID display area 1901, the participant ID(service requester ID) of the participant who transmitted the servicerequest is displayed. In the service name display area 1902, the servicename selected in the service name selection area 1701 is displayed. Inthe remarks display area 1903, the remarks input in the remarks inputarea 1704 are displayed.

In the expected gross profit display area 1904, Gr+Gp, which is the sumof the expected gross profits obtained by the service requester and theservice provider candidate, calculated in the optimal transactioncondition calculation processing of step 1009, is displayed. Inaddition, in the expected gross profit display area 1904, Gp, which isthe expected gross profit obtained by the service provider candidate,may be displayed in place of or in addition to Gr+Gp. In the paymentamount display area 1905, the amount of payment that the serviceprovider pays to the service requester when the transaction isestablished is displayed. In the example of FIG. 19, since a negativevalue is input in the payment amount display area 1905, money is paidfrom the service requester to the service provider when the transactionis established.

When the transaction confirmation button 1906 is selected, atransactability determination indicating that the transaction ispossible is transmitted to the service mediation device 100, whereaswhen the transaction decline button 1907 is selected, a transactabilitydetermination indicating that the transaction is declined (transactionimpossible) is transmitted to the service mediation device 100.

FIG. 20 is an example of a transaction counterparty selection screendisplayed on the participant terminal 160 of the service requester instep 1018. On the transaction counterparty selection screen 2000, a listof transactable candidates entered as transactable in thetransactability determination and the transaction condition between theservice requester and each of the transactable candidates are displayed.

The transaction counterparty selection screen 2000 includes aparticipant ID display area 2001, a service provision method ID displayarea 2002, a payment amount display area 2003, an expected gross profitdisplay area 2004, a transaction confirmation checkbox 2005, and atransaction decline checkbox. In the participant ID display area 2001,the participant ID of the transactable candidate is displayed. Inaddition to or in addition to the participant ID, information acquiredfrom the participant data 121 such as the name (participant name),capital, number of employees, location, and/or last-term profit of thetransactable candidate may be displayed.

The service provision method ID is displayed in the service provisionmethod ID display area 2002. In addition to or in addition to theservice provision method ID, information acquired from the service data122 such as the service name, the request data item, and/or theprovision data item may be displayed. In the payment amount display area2003, the amount of payment that the service requester pays to theservice provider when the transaction is established is displayed.

In the expected gross profit display area 2004, Gr+Gp, which is the sumof the expected gross profits obtained by the service requester and theservice provider candidate, calculated in the optimal transactioncondition calculation processing of step 1009, is displayed. In theexpected gross profit display area 2004, Gr, which is the expected grossprofit obtained by the service requester, may be displayed in place ofor in addition to Gr+Gp.

By checking either the transaction confirmation checkbox 2005 or thetransaction decline checkbox 2006 of each participant (service providercandidate), it is possible to select whether to confirm or decline thetransaction with each participant. If the transaction counterpartyconfirmation button 2007 is selected with either the transactionconfirmation checkbox 2005 or the transaction decline checkbox 2006 ofall participants (service provider candidates) checked, the selectionresult of the transaction counterparty is transmitted to the servicemediation device 100.

FIG. 21 is an example of the transaction evaluation information inputscreen displayed in steps 1101 and 1201. The transaction evaluationinformation input screen 2100 includes, for example, an evaluator IDdisplay area 2101, a transaction counterparty ID display area, a servicename display area 2103, a remarks display area 2104, a behaviorcharacteristic item display area, an evaluation value selection area2106, and a transmit button 2107.

In the evaluator ID display area 2101, the participant ID of theparticipant who inputs the transaction evaluation information (theservice requester in step 1101 or the service provider in step 1201) isdisplayed. In the transaction counterparty ID display area 2102, theparticipant ID of the participant to be evaluated (the service providerin step 1101 or the service requester in step 1201) is displayed. In theservice name display area 2103, the service name provided in thetransaction is displayed. In the remarks display area 2104, the remarksinput in the remarks input area 1704 are displayed.

A list of behavior characteristic items is displayed in the behaviorcharacteristic item display area 2105. The evaluation value selectionarea 2106 displays evaluation values in a drop-down manner so as to beselected for each behavior characteristic item. The evaluation value maybe directly input to the evaluation value selection area 2106, forexample, with a numerical value in a predetermined range (for example, 0or more and 1 or less).

In addition, for example, when a service requester makes a transactionof obtaining information by giving money to a service provider, sincethe service provider does not obtain information for the behaviorcharacteristic items “do not misuse obtained information” and “do notleak obtained information,” the service requester cannot makeevaluation. Therefore, the evaluation value selection area 2106 includesa value of “no evaluation value”, and in such a case, “no evaluationvalue” is selected. When “no evaluation value” is selected, the value of“no evaluation value” may not be considered in the calculation of thebehavior characteristic evaluation value (that is, the record of “noevaluation value” in the evaluation record data 128 is treated as beingnot present), and may be treated as a predetermined value.

When the transmit button 2107 is selected after the evaluation values ofall the behavior characteristic items are selected in the evaluationvalue selection area 2106, the transaction evaluation information istransmitted to the service mediation device 100.

Although the present disclosure has been described with reference toexample embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications may be made in form and detail withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter.

For example, the above-described embodiments are explained in detailsfor better understanding of this invention and are not limited to thoseincluding all the configurations described above. A part of theconfiguration of one embodiment may be replaced with that of anotherembodiment; the configuration of one embodiment may be incorporated tothe configuration of another embodiment. A part of the configuration ofeach embodiment may be added, deleted, or replaced by that of adifferent configuration. The above-described configurations, functions,and processors, for all or a part of them, may be implemented byhardware: for example, by designing an integrated circuit.

The above-described configurations and functions may be implemented bysoftware, which means that a processor interprets and executes programsproviding the functions. The information of programs, tables, and filesto implement the functions may be stored in a storage device such as amemory, a hard disk drive, or an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a storagemedium such as an IC card, or an SD card.

The drawings show control lines and information lines as considerednecessary for explanations but do not show all control lines orinformation lines in the products. It can be considered that almost ofall components are actually interconnected.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transaction mediation device that mediatesbetween a first participant requesting a transaction and one or moresecond participants capable of responding to the request of thetransaction, comprising: a processor; and a memory, wherein the memoryis configured to store: transaction request information indicatingestimates of profit and loss incurred on the basis of a thing that thefirst participant obtains through the transaction; for each of the oneor more second participants, transaction provision informationindicating estimates of profit and loss incurred on the basis of a thingthat the second participant obtains through the transaction; and foreach of the first participant and the one or more second participants,behavior characteristic information indicating evaluation of behaviorcharacteristics that affect the profit and loss of a transactioncounterparty, and the processor is configured to: for each of the one ormore second participants, calculate a first expected profit that thefirst participant obtains through the transaction with the secondparticipant on the basis of the transaction request information and thebehavior characteristic information; calculate a second expected profitthat the second participant obtains through the transaction with thefirst participant on the basis of the transaction provision informationand the behavior characteristic information; and calculate and output agross profit incurred from the transaction on the basis of the firstexpected profit and the second expected profit.
 2. The transactionmediation device according to claim 1, wherein the transaction requestinformation indicates a first estimate of profit incurred on the basisof a thing that the first participant obtains through the transactionand a second estimate of loss incurred on the basis of the thing, thetransaction provision information indicates a third estimate of profitincurred on the basis of a thing that each of the one or more secondparticipants obtains through the transaction and a fourth estimate ofloss incurred on the basis of the thing, the behavior characteristicinformation indicates evaluations of a first behavior characteristicthat affects the profit of the transaction counterparty and a secondbehavior characteristic that affects the loss of the transactioncounterparty for each of the first participant and the one or moresecond participants, and the processor is configured to: for each of theone or more second participants, calculate a first expected value of theprofit that the first participant obtained through the transaction withthe second participant on the basis of the first estimate, the secondestimate, and the evaluations of the first behavior characteristic andthe second behavior characteristic of the second participant indicatedby the behavior characteristic information; and calculate a secondexpected value of the profit that the second participant obtains throughthe transaction with the first participant on the basis of the thirdestimate, the fourth estimate, and the evaluations of the first behaviorcharacteristic and the second behavior characteristic of the firstparticipant indicated by the behavior characteristic information.
 3. Thetransaction mediation device according to claim 1, wherein the processoris configured to: for each of the one or more second participants,determine an amount of money delivered from the first participant to thesecond participant or from the second participant to the firstparticipant so that the first expected value and the second expectedvalue are equal to each other; calculate and output the gross profit onthe basis of the first expected value and the second expected value toor from which the determined amount of money is added or subtracted; andoutput the determined amount of money.
 4. The transaction mediationdevice according to claim 1, wherein the processor calculates andoutputs the gross profit on the basis of the first expected value andthe second expected value corresponding to the second participant inwhich the first expected value and the second expected value are bothgreater than
 0. 5. The transaction mediation device according to claim4, wherein The processor calculates and outputs the gross profit on thebasis of the first expected value and the second expected valuecorresponding to the second participant in which a sum of the firstexpected value and the second expected value is maximized amongcombinations of second participants in which the first expected valueand the second expected value are both greater than
 0. 6. Thetransaction mediation device according to claim 1, wherein the memorystores transaction means information indicating a first correctioncoefficient for correcting the profit of the first participant, a secondcorrection coefficient for correcting the loss of the first participant,and a third correction coefficient for correcting the profit of the oneor more second participants, and a fourth correction coefficient forcorrecting the loss of the one or more second participants, thetransaction means information being defined for each transaction means,and the processor is configured to: for each of the one or more secondparticipants, calculate the first expected value on the basis of thetransaction request information, the behavior characteristicinformation, the first correction coefficient, and the second correctioncoefficient; and calculate the second expected value on the basis of thetransaction request information, the behavior characteristicinformation, the third correction coefficient, and the fourth correctioncoefficient.
 7. The transaction mediation device according to claim 1,wherein the memory stores evaluation information indicating anevaluation value by one participant, of behavior characteristics of theother participant in the transaction and an evaluation value by theother participant, of behavior characteristics of the one participantfor each combination of participants who have a record of establishedtransactions, and the processor is configured to: acquire the evaluationvalue by the first participant, of the behavior characteristics intransaction of the second participant who has established thetransaction with the first participant and the evaluation value by thesecond participant, of the behavior characteristics in the transactionof the first participant; for each of the behavior characteristics,calculate evaluation of the behavior characteristic of the firstparticipant to be stored in the behavior characteristic on the basis ofan average of the evaluation value included in the evaluationinformation of the first participant and the acquired evaluation valueof the first participant; calculate evaluation of the behaviorcharacteristic of the second participant to be stored in the behaviorcharacteristic information on the basis of an average of the evaluationvalue included in the evaluation information of the second participantand the acquired evaluation value of the second participant; and updatethe behavior characteristic information using the calculated evaluationof the behavior characteristic of the first participant and thecalculated evaluation of the behavior characteristic of the secondparticipant.
 8. The transaction mediation device according to claim 7,wherein the transaction mediation device is connected to a first deviceand a second device, and the processor is configured to: display, on thefirst device, a screen for inputting the evaluation value by the firstparticipant, of each behavior characteristic in the transaction of thesecond participant who has established the transaction with the firstparticipant; and display, on the second device, a screen for inputtingthe evaluation value by the second participant, of each behaviorcharacteristic in the transaction of the first participant.
 9. Thetransaction mediation device according to claim 1, wherein thetransaction mediation device is connected to a first device and a seconddevice, and the processor is configured to: display, on the firstdevice, a screen for inputting estimates of profit and loss incurred onthe basis of the thing that the first participant obtains through thetransaction; display, on the second device, a screen for inputtingestimates of profit and loss incurred on the basis of the thing that thesecond participant obtains through the transaction; upon receiving theestimates of the profit and loss incurred on the basis of the thing thatthe first participant obtains through the transaction from the firstparticipant, generate the transaction request information on the basisof the received estimates; and upon receiving the estimates of theprofit and loss incurred on the basis of the thing that the secondparticipant obtains through the transaction from the second device,generate the transaction provision information on the basis of thereceived estimates.
 10. A transaction mediation method, by a transactionmediation device, that mediates between a first participant requesting atransaction and one or more second participants capable of responding tothe request of the transaction, the transaction device comprising: aprocessor; and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store:transaction request information indicating estimates of profit and lossincurred on the basis of a thing that the first participant obtainsthrough the transaction; for each of the one or more secondparticipants, transaction provision information indicating estimates ofprofit and loss incurred on the basis of a thing that the secondparticipant obtains through the transaction; and for each of the firstparticipant and the one or more second participants, behaviorcharacteristic information indicating evaluation of behaviorcharacteristics that affect the profit and loss of a transactioncounterparty, and the transaction mediation method comprising: for eachof the one or more second participants, calculating, by the processor, afirst expected profit that the first participant obtains through thetransaction with the second participant on the basis of the transactionrequest information and the behavior characteristic information;calculating, by the processor, a second expected profit that the secondparticipant obtains through the transaction with the first participanton the basis of the transaction provision information and the behaviorcharacteristic information; and calculating and outputting, by theprocessor, a gross profit incurred from the transaction on the basis ofthe first expected profit and the second expected profit.